Utility meters incorporate many functionalities relating to the consumption of a utility such as water, electricity, and gas, among others. Utility meters may enable a utility provider to remotely monitor utility usage by a customer or group of customers.
Antennas provide a way to connect utility meter components (e.g., network interface controller (NICs)) to a network. Antennas allow transmission of data obtained from a metering circuit through the NIC to the network for remote accessibility, such as to allow remote meter reading or provisioning of new utility services to customers. Remote accessibility can minimize issues associated with human meter reading, such as the cost of human capital to read meters, as well as the resulting mistakes.
Data received from the metering circuit can be transmitted to the network via a wireless data transfer medium (e.g., radio, ultrasonic, or infrared systems), or via a telephone or computer network, optical link or other wired communications medium (e.g., power line carrier).
Mounting an antenna internal to a utility meter (e.g., under a utility meter cover) has been used as a solution to connect the utility meter to a network. However, when the antenna is mounted under the cover of the utility meter, radio frequency (RF) interference with electronics and conductors may pose an issue with data transmission from the antenna to the network.
To reduce RF interference, the antenna can be mounted outside of the utility meter cover. Such external mounting solutions typically involve mounting the antenna to the meter box and passing a cable through a back of a meter base. Care must be taken to isolate the external antenna, for example, by providing an alternate power supply for the NIC, or by connecting the antenna to the NIC via an RF coupler. Failure to do so can create the risk of electric shock, which is of particular concern in residential installations. Such configurations can be cost prohibitive, particularly when applied to a large-scale utility operation.